DOCSLIB.ORG

Christianity in China Today

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Christianity in China Today JISMOR 8 +++ Christianity in China Today John Z. X. Wang Abstract While China has become the world’s fastest-growing economy in recent three decades of re- form and opening-up, it has also witnessed the fastest-growing of Christianity in the country’s modern history. Are there inner and necessary connections between the two phenomena? Why? How about the current situation of Christianity in this big Communist regime? This arti- cle treats the topic in three aspects: the size of Chinese Christian population, the relations be- tween church and state in China, the challenges and opportunities of Christianity in China to- day. Keywords: History of Christianity in China, Christianity Population, Relations between Church and State As we all know, Christianity is the world’s largest and most important religion, and China is the most populous but traditionally non-Christian country in the world, so if these two subjects come together, they could be synthesized into a very significant topic of religious studies. Since China is now often called a rising power in the rapidly globalizing world today, the topic should be even more worth noting and investigating than ever before. I will share my brief presentation in three aspects: the size of Chinese Christian population, the relations between church and state in China, and the challenges and opportunities of Christianity in China today. But because of the limitation of my research scope, what I call “China today” refers just to China’s mainland during a period of time that is roughly coincided with the so-called “China’s 30 years of reform and opening-up” that is from the beginning of the 1980’s to now. The Size of Chinese Christian Population Christianity in China today is comprised of all the three kinds of traditional church group –Protestant churches, Roman Catholic churches and Eastern Orthodox churches. But as is generally estimated, there are only some small Russian Eastern Orthodox churches in northern 15 JISMOR 8 China’s Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang minority regions or Beijing and Shanghai’s expatriate residential areas, and compared to China’s huge population, they are too small to be recognized as a substantial religious existence in China. So in mainland China today, Christianity is often considered as largely composed of two parts –the Roman Catholic churches and the Protestant churches. As it has been so often asked and so controversial in academic research field, the most basic question about Christianity in China today seems to be how large is size of the Chinese Christian population. But unfortunately, so far as I know, there isn’t a generally accepted statistical data or estimate for this question. Religious identity is, especially that of Christianity, still a political sensitive issue, and China’s national census did not collect religious information of the people, so there isn’t any authoritative and accurate statistics about religious situation at the national-wide level. But in recent years, some official institutes, independent organizations and individuals had launched several sample surveys and field researches for this problem. The results of them are very different. However, all the sources have announced their estimates publicly and claimed they have got the figure of the elephant. According to Bluebook of Religion: Annual Report on China’s Religions (2010) issued by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), the total number of Christian population in China is about 30 million, including over 23 million of Protestants and about 6 million of Catholics, and both of them are included a little part of un-baptized frequent church goers.1) The report had declared its result comes from a full population survey and has taken into account both registered churches and unregistered churches all over the country. But this result cannot be generally accepted by scholars within the China or from abroad. The simplest reason lies in that how can this kind of official survey get enough and representative questionnaires from Chinese Christians, especially those of unregistered house churches, since religious identity is still a politically sensitive issue in China and Christianity is far more sensitive than other traditional Chinese religions. But nevertheless, the figure issued by CASS is generally considered as a reference represented the most conservative estimate of Chinese Christian population. On the contrary, there are far more optimistic estimates produced from surveys and researches launched by some independent organizations and individual scholars. For instance, Asia Harvest, an inter-denominational Christian ministry working in Asia, reported also in the year of 2010 that there are about 104 million Christians of all ages in mainland China (nearly 8% of the its’ total population). And according to an online report at Christianity Today, the stronghold of evangelical media in North America, the Christian population in China today should have reached to 130 million.2) This is the most ambitious assessment until now. But it should be noted that these two estimates had taken into account of the non-adult children of Christian believers as Christian people as well. Between the most conservative semi-official figure supplied by CASS to the most 16 John Z. X. Wang ambitious assessment of Christianity Today, there are some moderate estimates about China’s total Christian population. Among them, I would like to recommend a reasonable estimates supplied by Pew Forum, a famous nonpartisan American think tank organization. According to its report which released in the end of 2011, the figure of Chinese Christian population should be around 5% of the country’s total population, or 67 million Christians of all ages. This figure includes also non-adult children of Chinese believers and un-baptized persons who attend Christian worship services. In the above introduction, I have offered three levels of estimates about Chinese Christian population. Each one has its own reasons and methodology, but due to the fact that the size of the unregistered churches in China is just like an elephant in the darkness, no one can exclusively claim his having approached the truth. If some of you remain puzzled about the issue, I would like to present one more useful frame of reference. According to the report of Amity Printing Company, China’s government- sanctioned Bible printer for Protestant churches, it has printed nearly 90 million Bibles since its founding in 1987 to the end of 2011. It has also reported that the total number can be broken down as 56 million for distribution in churches within China’s mainland, and 33 million for overseas markets.3) But anyone who has some experiences about the unregistered churches in China would know that the main part of the “33 million for overseas markets” has through some “smuggling channels” in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan or other places returned to the domestic market –the unregistered house churches in mainland China, because the Amity Company don’t sale bibles to house churches directly. Therefore, according to my own estimation, there are at least 80 million Bibles used by Chinese Christians, and this number does not include a few millions of Catholic Bible –Si Gao Sheng Jing, a very different translation to the Protestant Union version and, of course, has seven Deuterocanons. Moreover, I would like to share some of my own experiences about this issue. Seven years ago, a brother of our Bible fellowship had got a job transfer from Chengdu to Beijing, and he worried for some days about how to find a new religious gathering that fits him in the new city. Unexpectedly, just in the second Sunday morning, he heard the sounds of his familiar psalms singing from a room just in the same unit of the same apartment building he lived. And fix years ago, I moved from Sichuan province to Hubei province myself, as I had graduated then with my doctorate from Sichuan University and came to work at Hubei University of Arts and Science. It was my turn to be surprised that just a few days after my setting down, I found a tiny poster on a pillar of road lamp in the campus, said “Do you want to know what does the gospel mean? Tel. …” 17 JISMOR 8 The Relations between Church and State Up to now, the Communist government of China has still adopted the ancient tradition of religious administration which Prof. Zhuo Xinping, director of the Institute of World Religions (IWR) in Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, had summarized as “politics, being the dominant, religions, the subordinate” ( 政 主 教 從 , pinyin: zhèng zhǔ jiāo cóng)4). In ancient China, the official ideology is a mix of Confucianism and totalitarian politics. Confucianism is also a dominant religion in a triangle Chinese religious and cultural system which is fabricated by Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Since the Chinese Communist party assumed power of China in 1949, the ancient totalitarian politics which is originated from Qin Dynasty (221-209 B.C.) has remained, but the ancient Confucianism has been replaced by Marxism- Leninism, a quasi-religion of Communist. So all the other religions must pledge loyalty to the Chinese Communist party and its ideology, and all the other religious organizations and professionals have to be sanctioned, registered and licensed by the atheist government. In other words, the principle of separation between church and state which is prevalent among modern international community has not been adopted in the Socialist PRC ever since its foundation. Furthermore, because the Western colonist and the Christian missionary came to Qing Dynasty (1636-1911) China almost side by side and brought about a lot of conflicts and bitter historical memory, Mao Zedong and his successor always consider that Christianity was once upon a time the tool of Imperialism invasion and may be now and in the future a tool of “peaceful evolution” of the Western Powers.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Protestants in China
    Background Paper Protestants in China Issue date: 21 March 2013 (update) Review date: 21 September 2013 CONTENTS 1. Overview ................................................................................................................................... 2 2. History ....................................................................................................................................... 2 3. Number of Adherents ................................................................................................................ 3 4. Official Government Policy on Religion .................................................................................. 4 5. Three Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) and the China Christian Council (CCC) ................... 5 6. Registered Churches .................................................................................................................. 6 7. Unregistered Churches/ Unregistered Protestant Groups .......................................................... 7 8. House Churches ......................................................................................................................... 8 9. Protestant Denominations in China ........................................................................................... 9 10. Protestant Beliefs and Practices ............................................................................................ 10 11. Cults, sects and heterodox Protestant groups ........................................................................ 14
    [Show full text]
  • Chinese Catholic Nuns and the Organization of Religious Life in Contemporary China
    religions Article Chinese Catholic Nuns and the Organization of Religious Life in Contemporary China Michel Chambon Anthropology Department, Hanover College, Hanover, IN 47243, USA; [email protected] Received: 25 June 2019; Accepted: 19 July 2019; Published: 23 July 2019 Abstract: This article explores the evolution of female religious life within the Catholic Church in China today. Through ethnographic observation, it establishes a spectrum of practices between two main traditions, namely the antique beatas and the modern missionary congregations. The article argues that Chinese nuns create forms of religious life that are quite distinct from more universal Catholic standards: their congregations are always diocesan and involved in multiple forms of apostolate. Despite the little attention they receive, Chinese nuns demonstrate how Chinese Catholics are creative in their appropriation of Christian traditions and their response to social and economic changes. Keywords: christianity in China; catholicism; religious life; gender studies Surveys from 2015 suggest that in the People’s Republic of China, there are 3170 Catholic religious women who belong to 87 registered religious congregations, while 1400 women belong to 37 unregistered ones.1 Thus, there are approximately 4570 Catholics nuns in China, for a general Catholic population that fluctuates between eight to ten million. However, little is known about these women and their forms of religious life, the challenges of their lifestyle, and their current difficulties. Who are those women? How does their religious life manifest and evolve within a rapidly changing Chinese society? What do they tell us about the Catholic Church in China? This paper explores the various forms of religious life in Catholic China to understand how Chinese women appropriate and translate Catholic religious ideals.
    [Show full text]
  • Chinese Protestant Christianity Today Daniel H. Bays
    Chinese Protestant Christianity Today Daniel H. Bays ABSTRACT Protestant Christianity has been a prominent part of the general religious resurgence in China in the past two decades. In many ways it is the most striking example of that resurgence. Along with Roman Catholics, as of the 1950s Chinese Protestants carried the heavy historical liability of association with Western domi- nation or imperialism in China, yet they have not only overcome that inheritance but have achieved remarkable growth. Popular media and human rights organizations in the West, as well as various Christian groups, publish a wide variety of information and commentary on Chinese Protestants. This article first traces the gradual extension of interest in Chinese Protestants from Christian circles to the scholarly world during the last two decades, and then discusses salient characteristics of the Protestant movement today. These include its size and rate of growth, the role of Church–state relations, the continuing foreign legacy in some parts of the Church, the strong flavour of popular religion which suffuses Protestantism today, the discourse of Chinese intellectuals on Christianity, and Protestantism in the context of the rapid economic changes occurring in China, concluding with a perspective from world Christianity. Protestant Christianity has been a prominent part of the general religious resurgence in China in the past two decades. Today, on any given Sunday there are almost certainly more Protestants in church in China than in all of Europe.1 One recent thoughtful scholarly assessment characterizes Protestantism as “flourishing” though also “fractured” (organizationally) and “fragile” (due to limits on the social and cultural role of the Church).2 And popular media and human rights organizations in the West, as well as various Christian groups, publish a wide variety of information and commentary on Chinese Protestants.
    [Show full text]
  • Thirty Years of Mission in Taiwan: the Case of Presbyterian Missionary George Leslie Mackay
    religions Article Thirty Years of Mission in Taiwan: The Case of Presbyterian Missionary George Leslie Mackay Magdaléna Rychetská Asia Studies Centre, Department of Chinese Studies, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, 602 00 Brno, Czech Republic; [email protected] Abstract: The aims of this paper are to analyze the missionary endeavors of the first Canadian Presbyterian missionary in Taiwan, George Leslie Mackay (1844–1901), as described in From Far Formosa: The Islands, Its People and Missions, and to explore how Christian theology was established among and adapted to the Taiwanese people: the approaches that Mackay used and the missionary strategies that he implemented, as well as the difficulties that he faced. Given that Mackay’s missionary strategy was clearly highly successful—within 30 years, he had built 60 churches and made approximately 2000 converts—the question of how he achieved these results is certainly worth considering. Furthermore, from the outset, Mackay was perceived and received very positively in Taiwan and is considered something of a folk hero in the country even today. In the present-day Citation: Rychetská, Magdaléna. narrative of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, Mackay is seen as someone whose efforts to establish 2021. Thirty Years of Mission in an independent church with native local leadership helped to introduce democracy to Taiwan. Taiwan: The Case of Presbyterian However, in some of the scholarship, missionaries such as Mackay are portrayed as profit seekers. Missionary George Leslie Mackay. This paper seeks to give a voice to Mackay himself and thereby to provide a more symmetrical Religions 12: 190. https://doi.org/ approach to mission history.
    [Show full text]
  • Anglicans in China
    ANGLICANS IN CHINA A History of the Zhonghua Shenggong Hui (Chung Hua Sheng Kung Huei) by G.F.S. Gray with editorial revision by Martha Lund Smalley The Episcopal China Mission History Project 1996 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements . ..... ...... ..... ...... ..... ...... ..... ...... ..... ............ .......................... ............ 1 Editor's foreword ..... ..... ...... ..... ...... ..... ...... ..... ...... ..... ............ .......................... ............ 2 List of illustrations ... ..... ...... ..... ...... ..... ...... ..... ...... ..... ............ .......................... ............ 3 Preface by G.F.S. Gray. ...... ..... ...... ..... ...... ..... ...... ..... ............ .......................... ............ 4 Overview and chronology of the period 1835-1910 ... ..... ............ .......................... ............ 5 Overview of the period 1911-1927 .... ..... ...... ..... ...... ..... ............ .......................... ............ 20 Diocesan histories 1911-1927 Hong Kong and South China ...... ..... ...... ..... ...... ..... ............ .......................... ............ 25 Fujian (Fukien) .. ..... ...... ..... ...... ..... ...... ..... ...... ..... ............ .......................... ............ 26 Zhejiang (Chekiang) ...... ..... ...... ..... ...... ..... ...... ..... ............ .......................... ............ 27 Guangxi-Hunan (Kwangsi-Hunan) .... ...... ..... ...... ..... ............ .......................... ............ ............ 28 Shanghai .... ...... ....
    [Show full text]
  • The Catholic Church in China: a New Chapter
    The Catholic Church in China: A New Chapter PETER FLEMING SJ with ISMAEL ZULOAGA SJ Throughout the turbulent history of Christianity in China, Christians have never numbered more than one per cent of China's total population, but Christianity has never died in China as many predicted it eventually would. One could argue that Christianity's influence in China has been greater than the proportion of its Christians might warrant. Some have argued that Christianity became strong when Chinese governments were weak: What we seem to be witnessing today in China, however, is a renewal of Christianity under a vital communist regime. That Christianity is in some ways becoming stronger today under a communist regime than it was before the communists is an irony of history which highlights both the promise and the burden of Christianity's presence in China. Today China is no less important in the history of Christianity than she was during Francis Xavier's or Matteo Ricci's time. There are one billion Chinese in China today and 25 million overseas Chinese. These numbers alone tell us of China's influence on and beneficial role for the future and the part that a culturally indigenous Chinese Christianity might play in that future. There is a new look about China today. What does Christianity look like? What has it looked like in the past? The promise and burden of history The Nestorians first brought Christianity to China in the seventh century. The Franciscans John of PIano Carpini and John of Montecorvino followed them in the 13th century.
    [Show full text]
  • A Historical Overview of the Impact of the Reformation on East Asia Christina Han
    Consensus Volume 38 Issue 1 Reformation: Then, Now, and Onward. Varied Article 4 Voices, Insightful Interpretations 11-25-2017 A Historical Overview of the Impact of the Reformation on East Asia Christina Han Follow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus Part of the Chinese Studies Commons, History of Christianity Commons, Japanese Studies Commons, Korean Studies Commons, and the Missions and World Christianity Commons Recommended Citation Han, Christina (2017) "A Historical Overview of the Impact of the Reformation on East Asia," Consensus: Vol. 38 : Iss. 1 , Article 4. Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol38/iss1/4 This Articles is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by an authorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Han: Reformation in East Asia A Historical Overview of the Impact of the Reformation on East Asia Christina Han1 The Reformation 500 Jubilee and the Shadow of the Past he celebratory mood is high throughout the world as we approach the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Themed festivals and tours, special services and T conferences have been organized to commemorate Martin Luther and his legacy. The jubilee Luther 2017, planned and sponsored the federal and municipal governments of Germany and participated by churches and communities in Germany and beyond, lays out the goals of the events as follows: While celebrations in earlier centuries were kept national and confessional, the upcoming anniversary of the Revolution ought to be shaped by openness, freedom and ecumenism.
    [Show full text]
  • The Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) Is a Regional
    The Archives on the History of Christianity in China at Hong Kong Baptist University Library: Its Development, Significance, and Future Kylie Chan he Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) is a regional and mass education.”3 In addition, women missionaries made Tpioneer in establishing a valuable archives collection on important contributions as educators, role models, and social the history of Christianity in China, with the aim of preserving service workers. various facets of the Christian heritage in China.1 Archival materials on Christianity in China help to shed light on the anti-Christian movements in the 1920s that were Archives on the History of Christianity in China supported by political parties hoping to raise their political profile. Some recently surfaced publications on the Chinese The Archives on the History of Christianity in China (AHC) churches under the People’s Republic of China will allow more collection, consisting mainly of materials in either English or understanding of official churches, that is, the Catholic Patriotic Chinese, covers topics of Chinese Christians, missionaries, church Association and the Three-Self Movement, as well as of their history, and the history of Christianity in China. The archives counterparts among the underground churches. emphasizes the period before 1950. At the end of 2003, there were 3,084 volumes of monographs (2,078 in English and 1,006 in Development and Mission of the Archives Chinese), and 31,000 microform items, with thirty linear feet of archival records on the history of Christianity in China. Although Christianity first spread into China over 1,300 years The archives contains over 200 biographies and memoirs ago, formal research on the history of Chinese Christianity did detailing prominent missionaries, such as Hudson Taylor, James not begin before the 1930s and the 1940s.4 From 1949 to 1976 Outram Fraser, Karl Ludvig Reichelt, David Abeel, and John missionary activities in China were considered to be associated Leighton Stuart.
    [Show full text]
  • Christianity
    97 GLOBAL CHRISTIANITY Appendix C: Methodology for China Overview of Findings and Methods Published estimates of the Christian share of the Chinese population range from about 1% in some relatively small-sample public opinion surveys to about 8% in reviews of membership reports from churches and church leaders (including unregistered churches) within China. Given the size of China’s population, a difference of a single percentage point represents more than 10 million people. In light of such a wide range of estimates, this study carefully considered multiple sources of data – including public opinion surveys, church membership reports and Chinese government statistics – in an attempt to provide a reasonable estimate of the number of Christians in China. This methodology builds on the 2008 Pew Christians in China PERCENTAGE 26 Forum analysis of religion in China. Since OF 2010 ESTIMATED POPULATION its publication in May 2008, that analysis has POPULATION OF CHINA been well received by scholars at numerous Protestant 58,040,000 4.3% scientific and professional meetings in the U.S. Independent 35,040,000 2.6 and China.27 At these meetings, the Pew Forum Other Protestant 23,000,000 1.7 received feedback on the initial analysis as well Anglican < 1,000 < 0.1 Orthodox 20,000 < 0.1 as helpful input on its current estimate. Catholic 9,000,000 0.7 Other Christian < 10,000 < 0.1 There is general consensus among scholars of Total Christian 67,070,000 5.0 mainland China that its Christian population numbers somewhere in the tens of millions. Population estimates are rounded to the ten thousands.
    [Show full text]
  • Christianity in China
    This is a reproduction of a library book that was digitized by Google as part of an ongoing effort to preserve the information in books and make it universally accessible. http://books.google.com /m^g-frf. WtLlOTHfcQUE U U Fasnlte ie ticologU IE I'EBLiSE HIRE LAUSANNE T H 6 5 7 0 i X ^ CHRISTIANITY CHINA, TARTARY, AND THIBET. VOL. I. London z Printed by Spottiswoode tc Co. New-street Square-. CHRISTIANITY CHINA, TARTAR!, and THIBET. BY M. L'ABBE HUC, FORMERLY MISSIONARY APOSTOLIC IN CHINA J AUTHOR OF "THE CHINESE EMPIRE," ETC. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. FROM THE APOSTLESHIP OF ST. THOMAS TO THE DISCOVERY OF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. LONDON : LONGMAN, BKOWN, GEEEN, LONGMANS, & EOBERTS. 1857. CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME. CHAPTER I. The Doctrine of the Redemption of Men diffused over the whole "World The Preaching of the Jewish Nation Indian Poets. — Virgil. — The Sibyls. — Extract from the " Annals of China." — The World in Expectation of the Messiah. — Legend of the ; Apostleship of St. Thomas. — Proofs of the Preaching of St." Thomas in India. — Archaeological Proofs. — Medal of King Gon- daphorus. — Probability of the Apostleship of St. Thomasin China. — Freguent Relations between the East and the West at the Com mencement of the Christian Era. — Consequences of these Rela tions. — \l5t. Pantenus and other Missionaries in the East. — . Nestorian and Catholic Preachers in China - - Page 1 CHAP. II. ; Discovery of the famous Inscription of Si-gnan-Fou. — * Translation of this Inscription. — State of the Chinese Empire at the Epoch of the Erection of this Monument.
    [Show full text]
  • Project Faith: Christianity Around the World Session 5: Christianity in China 1
    Project Faith: Christianity Around the World Session 5: Christianity in China 1. What does it mean to be a “Friend of China”? 2 Cor 2:15 For we are not peddlers of God’s word like so many; but in Christ we speak as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God and standing in his presence. 2. Asian Christians – by the numbers 3. When did Christianity Arrive in China? In the 6th & 7th centuries with missionaries from Nestorian Syriac-speaking traditions. 4. Syriac Christianity on the Silk Road: Nestorian Christianity spread eastward in the 6th century. 5. The Nestorian Stele of “the Luminous Religion”: This stele was erected in 781 and documents 150 years of early Christianity in China. It is a limestone block with text in both Chinese and Syriac describing the existence of Christian communities in several cities in northern China. 6. Christianity is preceded by Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. 7. Anti-Buddhist persecutions affected Christians too. In 845, at the height of the Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution, Emperor Wuzong decreed that Buddhism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism be banned, and their very considerable assets forfeited to the state. 8. Christianity among the Mongols: Genghis Khan had Christians in his service. 9. Franciscans and Dominicans in the Middle ages: In the late 1200’s and early 1300’s Franciscan and Dominican Catholic missionaries ventured to China and met with such figures as Kublai Khan. 10. Marco Polo is part of this story. In 1271, the Polo brothers brought an invitation from Kublai Khan to Pope Gregory X, imploring him that a hundred teachers of science and religion be sent to reinforce the Christianity already present in his vast empire.
    [Show full text]
  • Anthropology Open Access
    Anthropology Open Access Heule F. Anthropol Open Acc: AOAP-115. Review Article DOI: 10.29011/AOAP-115/ 100015 Socio-Historical Notes on Lutheranism in China: 1807-2017 Freerk Heule* Faculty of Philosophy, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands *Corresponding author: Freerk Heule, Faculty of Philosophy, Room H5-25, Erasmus University, Post box 1738, 3000 DR Rotter- dam, the Netherlands. Tel: +31650534716; +31180613382; Email: [email protected] Citation: Heule F (2018) Socio-Historical Notes on Lutheranism in China: 1807-2017. Anthropol Open Acc: AOAP-115. DOI: 10.29011/AOAP-115/ 100015 Received Date: 06 March, 2018; Accepted Date: 04 April, 2018; Published Date: 08 October, 2018 This essay was delivered as an oral presentation at the ‘First European Academy of Religion Conference’ of 2017 in Bologna, Italy. Abstract The Lutheran Churches have a history dating back to 1517 since their founding by Church Reformer Martin Luther (1483- 1546). In this essay the focus is on China, where his theological teachings as well as his ethical and sociological views were unknown. I will position the Lutheran Church in China and wider Asia, against the background of the tumultuous regional his- tory, which despite ups and downs, today shows signs of acceptance. The meaning of religion in present-day China is discussed in relation to the context of modernity: sociology, ideologies (communism and Confucianism) and internet technology. Keywords: China; Martin Luther; Anthropology; Protestant and 1840 throughout the English-speaking world, lead to increased Missions; Religion; Social History missionary activity and the period became known as ‘The Great Century’ of modern religious missions [3].
    [Show full text]